Counter-Culture
The feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated on 4 October
by Brian Radcliffe
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To encourage us to consider and question the values that drive us.
Preparation and materials
- None required.
Assembly
- Ask the students, ‘What are the values that drive you?’
Explain that by values, you mean what lies behind how they live, how they feel about life and the decisions that they take.
Many of us might be driven by wanting to have as much money and stuff as we can. We want to have what everyone else appears to have, whether that’s technology, fashion or disposable cash. We’re driven by a desire for wealth and can easily become envious of others.
We’re also driven by our need for relationships. It’s important that we have friends, that we’re valued within our group. As we get older, we begin to move towards the desire for a sexual relationship.
Most of us are driven by the imperative to be independent too. We don’t want to be told what to do; we want to make our own decisions. Money, sex and power are often influential drivers that operate throughout our lives from secondary school onwards. - I want to introduce you to a man who rebelled against all three of these drivers. His name is Francis of Assisi. He began life driven by everything that I’ve outlined. He was the son of a prosperous Italian silk merchant and a French mother from Provence. Living in Assisi, he had everything he wanted. He was wealthy, enjoyed partying and had status. He had money, sex and power in bucketloads. However, he felt uncomfortable with this wealthy lifestyle.
One day, Francis was selling cloth and velvet in the marketplace on behalf of his father, when a beggar approached him for alms. When Francis finished selling, he felt so embarrassed about the contrast between his lifestyle and the beggar’s that he ran after him and gave him everything that he had. His father was very displeased, but Francis’ experience motivated him to explore the teachings of Jesus and discover that there was an alternative approach to life. He became a monk, living a simple life, focussing particularly on being close to nature, which he believed to be a mirror of God, reflecting all that was good and beautiful. - There are many depictions of Saint Francis. He’s usually shown wearing a brown monk’s habit with a rope around his waist. The rope has three knots in it. These represent the three vows that he took as a monk.
- The first vow was poverty. Francis owned nothing. He depended on the generosity of others for accommodation, food and possessions.
- The second vow was chastity. Francis had no sexual relationships. He wasn’t caught up in confusing and often tempting situations.
- The final vow was obedience. Francis listened to others and did what they asked him to rather than asserting his own wishes. - Saint Francis of Assisi demonstrated a counter-cultural approach to the drivers of money, sex and power.
Time for reflection
Ask the students, ‘Do you ever feel uncomfortable with what’s going on in your life, with what drives you?’
- Have you ever been jealous of what someone else has, either in possessions or opportunities? How did that affect your relationship with that person? Were you proud of your jealousy?
Pause to allow time for thought.
- Have you ever hurt someone by betraying their relationship with you, by dumping them to go with someone else? Were you proud of what you did?
Pause to allow time for thought.
- Have you ever insisted on getting your own way despite what other people wanted? Were you proud, or even satisfied, when you got your way?
Pause to allow time for thought.
These drivers - money, sex and power - aren’t wrong in themselves, but they can leave us feeling uncomfortable with decisions we made, actions we took and words we spoke when we allowed the drivers to rule. I’m not going to suggest that we all become monks and nuns as an antidote. But I’d like to recommend that we become aware of the strength of these drivers and put in place our own markers.
Maybe we need a different set of three knots.
- The first could be a knot of contentment, of being satisfied with what we have.
- The second could be a knot of affection, of considering the feelings of those we want to be friends and more.
- The third could be a knot of humility, of being prepared to listen and negotiate.
4 October is known as the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. It’s a good day to tie three knots. Let’s finish by listening to a song that was written to sum up St Francis’ principles, sung by Sinéad O’Connor, an Irish singer-songwriter known for her activism.
Song/music
‘Make me a channel of your peace’ sung by Sinéad O’Connor, available at: https://youtu.be/hIB_HJa1Zrw (2.50 minutes long)
